FATED BY MOONLIGHT (A Lycan & Witch Royal Romance)

My Mate

Eight years ago…

Grand Palace, Kingdom of Ethereal Shadows

MAXIMUS

I was pacing to and fro while waiting for Alpha Isaac, my father, the Lycan King, as he summoned me to be here in his castle. I am his only son and the next Alpha of Ethereal Shadows’ Pack. I glanced at my cousin, Damon, standing in the corner of the hall with my father’s butler.

“Relax,” Damon said, and I grinned at him. He is not only my cousin but also my best friend. He always got my back and will be my Beta once I become the Alpha of our pack.

“There you are! You stupid wolf!” My father’s echoing voice vibrated all around the corner of the hall. I stood straight, waiting for him to get downstairs.

“Father…”

“You think that I will be calm as I heard the foolishness you are doing with your life?!”

“I love Dolly, Father.”

“I forbid it!!! Do you understand?!” Father’s face turned red in anger. I know this will happen, and that is why I hid my relationship with Dolly from him. I know he will not agree with my decision.

“Father, please listen… hear me out. Dolly is my—”

“You are my son! Dammit!!! A Melrav! The next Alpha of our pack!!!” Father shouted the words to me. And his eyes were locked on my face. “You are the next leader, a pride of Ethereal Shadows from the moment you were born, and the only heir to my throne. No, Maximus! I will not let your relationship with that slut continue! That w***e will never be your Luna!”

I pursed my lips as my spine went rigid. Standing on the marbled floor of the Ethereal Shadows’ palace, the lavish castle for the Alpha of the pack, I clenched my jaw against the anger rushing inside me. I love Dolly, and I hate the way Father described her.

I have no idea who told him about Dolly. Damon just informed me about my father’s outrage because of knowing I am seeing Dolly. My cousin told me I needed to talk to Father before Dolly would be in danger, and Damon is right; that is why I am here trying to explain to Father.

“What the hell got into you?! I thought you found your mate, so you seldom visit me, but after I told James to spy on you to find out who your mate is, I felt disgusted! Dolly of all the she-wolves in our pack! How could you be smitten by that b***h?!”

I shook my head in defiance of what adjectives I heard for Dolly. “For goddamn’s sake, Father! Dolly is a good she-wolf! Half-human, maybe but she had been loyal to our pack! She isn’t a slut or w***e like you were saying! She loves me!”

Feeling bad for how Father disrespected Dolly, I wanna hate him for that. And for f**k’s sake, I am not a pup! I am twenty years old, tall and well-built, a man fully grown. But hell... Father is treating me like a half-witted pup who can’t decide who I want to be with.

“She loves you?” Father's bark of laughter surrounded us. “Do you forget that she is ten years your senior? And also a widow who has slept with countless werewolves in our pack?”

“Past doesn’t define her! And she’s my m—”

“Really?!” Father’s spat the question in his taunting tone. “So it is clear to you that she is also a she-wolf who will settle for nothing less than your position once you become the Alpha of this pack?! Huh?!”

I gritted my teeth. My hands balled into fists. “I won’t let you speak of Dolly that way. And whether you let me marry her or not, you’ll see that I will.” Ignoring the sound of my father’s hand crashing down on his rosewood desk, I turned and walked out of the castle. I was so angry that my footsteps echoed on the black and white marble floors. Fury pumped through me. The humiliation caused an icy resolve to oppose my father in whatever way I could. I can’t let him hurt Dolly emotionally and physically.

Once outside the palace, I walked fast to my sleek black sports car parked in the driveway. I gave Old Thaddeus, the gardener, a nod before I entered my vehicle. I was about to drive away when I noticed Big James, my father’s Gamma, striding out of the castle, too. I saw him looking at my car like he was waiting for me to leave.

A thread of uneasiness snaked through my being. Damn... What if Father would make his trusted Gamma follow me back to my house? And what if Father was the one who planned to follow me and just made Big James spy on me again? Well, he should not.

But no... Even Father is a stubborn, arrogant Lycan; he is still the Alpha of Ethereal Shadows, and his pride is so great, higher than the world's highest peak. Father would never go so far as to level down himself and follow me.

I waited and observed shortly and didn’t leave the palace premises. I saw Big James get inside the castle next; still, Father did not appear to go outside. Breathing a little easier as I relax now, I drove away from the Alpha’s palace.

While driving, I tried to calm myself by thinking of telling Dolly that we should elope. Dolly is my mate, even Father won’t believe me, but she’s my mate. The powerful scent from her made me know from the moment I smelled it that she was the one given to me by Moon Goddess.

I tried to explain that to Father earlier, but he was so hot-headed and full of himself. Sighing. I should stop thinking of that confrontation I had with Father. I should be grateful that it was over, even at least for the present. I pulled over and relaxed myself first. I can’t go home like this, Dolly is waiting, and I can’t make her worry by seeing me like this.

I looked outside and saw the stark rays of moonlight slanting down through the branches of the trees. The moon is nearing its complete form after three or four nights. I turned off the aircon of my car and rolled down the window of the car’s door beside me. I felt the slight breeze ruffling my dark brown wavy hair. I leaned on my seat and let the wind cool the last trace of anger burning my mind. No matter my misunderstanding with Father, he is still the man I look up to. My mentor. The one I idolized since the moment I saw him. My hero.

After thinking all the best I have in the world because of Father, I continued driving. As miles slid past, my thoughts moved away totally from my father’s ugly words to Dolly. I now think of Dolly’s warm and soft body waiting for me.

Dolly Lucien. Tall, sun-tanned skin, and exotically beautiful. From the top of her soft blonde straight hair to her shapely breasts and narrow waist, all the way down to her thighs and feminine arches of her feet.

We have been seeing each other for the past two months, discreetly meeting at Bliss Ridge, an intimate hotel where I first met her as she was the owner. We had planned to stay the night in my house for the first time tonight. Thinking of her naked in my kingsize bed while we tumble in bed, I grew hard inside my jockeys. I grinned as I thought of the pleasure I would seek inside my Dolly’s warm cavern once we were both chasing our orgasms.

Dolly… My Dolly. I will marry her and prove to my father that she’s worthy of being my Luna. Dolly is the best, and Moon Goddess choose her for me to be my mate. My mate.